Japan and France agreed Monday to start negotiating a deal to jointly develop defense equipment, while confirming plans to strengthen cooperation on nuclear energy technology and foster dialogue between their economic ministers, reports GlobalPost.
In addition to joint development of equipment such as unmanned submersibles for surveillance, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and French President Francois Hollande reached accord on holding a summit meeting every year to the extent possible, according to a joint paper released after their talks in Paris.
"As the security situation in Europe and East Asia becomes increasingly severe, close coordination between the two countries has never been more necessary," Abe said as he met the press together with Hollande.
The French president expressed his willingness to hold security dialogue with Japan on many occasions.
Read more of this report from GlobalPost.